Vern's review of the unrated LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD dvd, where you're allowed to say mother&*#$@%!!!

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD: 2-DISC ALLOWED TO SAY 'MOTHERFUCKER' EDITION
"YIPPEE KI YAY, MOVIE FANS!" That's what some dipshit wrote on the back of the new LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD dvd. But in the new unrated cut of the movie itself John McClane is allowed to live free and say the whole legendary, maybe-shouldn't-have-become-part-of-the-DIE-HARD-formula catch phrase. Say goodbye to "Yippee ki yay mother(gunshot)." It's out the window like Hans Gruber.
The new cut is not drastically, hugely or monumentally different. If you hated the theatrical version you'll still hate this one. The story is the same, I didn't notice any scenes removed or added, there's no new narration or a corny shot of a unicorn that's supposed to make you see the whole movie in a new light. McClane still doesn't make good on his threat to beat Kevin Smith's character to death - not even in a deleted scene, unless it's one a them "easter eggs" and I just didn't find it. I'll keep looking.
But what it does have is a whole bunch of little touches they never should've had to cut in the first place. Things most people wouldn't notice but that add up to more of a DIE HARD tone overall. Like, for example, the hemoglobin. It sprays sometimes when people get shot. It squirts when the guy from DISTRICT B13 gets shredded (but it's subtle, it's not the Johnny Depp in NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET geyser I imagined). After Maggie Q shoots the technician at the power plant she squeakily wipes blood off his screen with her hand. That was my favorite little addition. After McClane throws this character Russo down the stairs and then steals his walkie talkie they show his whole bloody face instead of the tamer profile of the PG-13. When McClane finally takes out Gabriel there is a bloodspray this time, so it's a little more clear what's going on, although I still think they should've shown it from the side so you see both parties getting shot (the one part where I thought Len Wiseman blew it with his staging).
More important than the blood, though, is the fuck. The fuck word. The fuck bomb. The most important four letter word in the English language. You know how they say Eskimos have 100 words for snow? Well, McClane has twice that many ways to use the word fuck, and he exercises a couple of them here. Which is all we asked for, 20th Century Fox. Would it really have skinned your balls so bad for us to have heard him say motherfucker a couple times in a theater with our fellow world citizens? Of course not. I think we have all learned a lesson here. Mostly you. Just don't do it again, fuckers.
The unrated cut also uses some alternate takes, so like in the DVDs of those Judd Apatow comedies you might be missing your favorite line. I was disappointed that he now tells Russo to take a nap. He used to sarcastically tell him he was going to get him a doctor. They even changed one of the movie's more quotable lines, where he says he killed the helicopter with a car because he was out of bullets. I won't spoil the new line but I thought it was a pretty good one.
Speaking of that scene, there's a little added that improves it I think. He's in the car, taking fire from the helicopter, and the car goes up in flames. That happened before but now it's made more clear in a longer shot and McClane says, "Car's on fire. That can't be good." I like that because it shows he has no choice but to jump out of the car. So it seems a little more sensible when he does it.
The extras on the DVD are pretty decent. There's a commentary with Bruce, Wiseman, and the editor. It's not fascinating or anything but they tell some good stories here and there and you find out things like that Wiseman was against McClane flying a helicopter. (I agree.) There's a really long making of documentary, so in-depth that even I got bored. But at least they're not skimping. I do wish they talked to the writers and had more on the DISTRICT B13 guy. The stunt supervisor mentions that his jump to the fire escape was really done in one shot, but that's about all they say about him.
My favorite extra is actually Kevin Smith's interview with Bruce. I think this was the one that was online when the movie came out, but I never watched it. Although I hate Smith in the movie, he does do a good interview. They also specifically discuss the legendary Walter B talkback, which I'd like to think I had a little something to do with. (please hold applause until end.) When Smith tries to say that we talkbackers "care too much" about DIE HARD Bruce disagrees with him. But still does not beat him to death. Unless it happened later that day.
Also I was glad that they included that awesome DIE HARD music video that about a hundred people sent me the link to. There's even a goofy featurette on "Guyz Nite," the band that made it. The video now includes a verse about LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD but otherwise is the same badass collection of clips you saw on Youtube.
And there's other extras I haven't gotten around to yet, like some special from the Fox Movie Channel that's hosted by Moriarty's friend Tom Rothman. And for some reason they made it so you can burn a digital copy of the movie to your computer. Whoah, HIGH TECH! So it's not a bad 2-disc set.
Despite my fears about the rating, I enjoyed LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD when I saw it last summer. So does it hold up? I still think it's a fun movie, and I love seeing McClane in action again. But I've seen it 3 times now and that might be too much too soon. I don't agree with Bruce and Kevin Smith that it's better than the other sequels. But I can't necessarily say it has less re-watch value, because I usually wait a year or two between viewings on the other ones. I do know that without the surprise factor the action in this one has a little less impact, and the scene with Kevin Smith gets more grating every time. It's such an obvious joke, and they already covered that territory earlier when McClane made fun of Matt for having dolls in his apartment.
Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to change my stance on that. I originally said that I didn't blame Kevin Smith for saying yes, because how could you turn down being in a DIE HARD movie? But now I see that one must sometimes sacrifice for the greater good. If you are a wacky guy and they ask you to play a wacky guy in the sequel to a movie you love, you gotta say no. That's the rule from now on. Or "the code of the streets" you could call it if you want to feel cool. Whatever you call it, the point is this: just because you got lucky doesn't mean you should ruin it for everybody else. This includes but is not limited to sequels or spinoffs of:
ALIEN
DIRTY HARRY
TERMINATOR
the zombie films of George Romero
TEXAS CHAIN SAW obviously
THE GODFATHER
2001
WHEN WE WERE KINGS
or any other movie you can picture being ruined when Kevin Smith shows up (i.e. most)
I don't mind you being wacky in private, just don't go rubbing my face in it in public.
anyway, that's it.
--Vern
author of Seagalogywriter of reviews

It's the only way to make clear to the buyer that this is the version they want to buy. None of this "Ultimate Edition", "Director's Cut", "Extended Version" crap. Just go to your retailer and ask "I want the Motherfucker Edition please".

Great piece. I thought it's a just fine movie, not in 'True' Die Hard quality territory, but better than we had a right to expect. Love the untouchable list at the end - WWWKs sequel about Tyson / Lewis anyone?

And it is a lot better, Willis swears a lot in this and some lines of dialouge are completely different. Also the fights seem more violent and you def see some of the people being shot on screen as oppose to off. All in all this unrated cut makes the film seem a lot more like Die Hard and LFODH is now my 3rd favorite just behind the 1st and 2nd films.

I've never really liked either of the DH sequels, so I'll probably never see this one or the Die Hard Remake that's likely coming next.<br><br>But I'm glad a true McClaniac got a movie that made him smile. Cheers, mate.

Ok, first, I had to create a new account since AICN wouldn't send me a new password.
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Second...the point of this post...it wasn't you who got Willis to come on to the site...it was me....prove it you say? Don't mind if I do...
<p>
During the Stallone Q&A last year, I suggested to Sly that he ask Bruce Willis to do a similar Q&A around the time LFoDH was coming out and Sly responded directly that he would try to make that happen and low and behold, a few months later, in comes WalterB...I'm the guy who set it all in motion.
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Not trying to be pissy, just think you should give credit where it's due, that's all.
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So, would you recommend the unrated cut over the theatrical cut? I haven't sen either yet...didn't want to see a watered down Die hard so I've been waiting for this dvd.

It doesn't feel like a Die Hard movie. Bad script, bad acting. No pace. Face it, the only director that can make a Die Hard movie is John McTiernan. It's like hiring somebody else apart from Spielberg to make an Indiana Jones film. Pointless.

This did not feel like a Die Hard movie at all. It felt like a really long episode of 24, down to the fancy labs the terrorists use and the extreme shaky closeups. And what was with the deal with the blue toned hues throughout the film. I've only seen one other movie from this director, the second Underworld, and this Die Hard movie mimicked that cinematagrophy so much. So much unnecessary dark blue throughout the movie. It just visually killed any ties to the previous Die Hard movies, which have always had that realistic NYPD blues approach to their look.

die hard is a classic action thriller, one of thee best action fils ever made. die harder was a solid remake of die hard, all the principal characters returned, even powell and thornberg, and the tone was as close to the original as any of the other sequels, but it was a rush job, coming out less than 2 yrs after the original, with a veangance was bad, the story was weak, the action was uninspired, remember the tussle in the elavator and the fight mcclane has with targo, they were so badly edited and staged, the ending was awful, its mcclane, but its not die hard, and finally live free was, is the worst of them all, this film was so self knowing, there were far too many wink wink nod nod moments, to list my grates
1. the music is bad 2. the pg13 thing was an awful idea 3. the villian was as weak as any villian ive ever seen 4. the script was a bore 5. supporting characters were not given the light of day 6. the end jet liner truck face off was hysterically ott 7. kevin smith 8. mcclane flies a helicopter 9. mcclane doesnt smoke 10. mcclane has no hair

Yeah, there are a few F-bombs here and there, but some of them are being said off-screen, and worse yet, by someone else's voice. The few that are actually being said full-faced by McClane seems forced.
<p>And Vern, I did not see most of the spray of blood that you mention, but the blood wiping by Maggie Q, that's there...and the funny thing is, you don't see the blood smeared in her hand.</P
<p>Btw, I never saw PG-13 Die Hard in the theaters. What's the point?</P>
<p>Oh and one more thing...I just discovered a new hotness for Maggie Q...</p>

the mouths often aren't saying what we are hearing...terrrrible audio synch...not even synch since sometimes the people weren't even trying to deliver the lines we were hearing...we shouldn't be able to notice this sort of thing...

I checked out his Beowulf review. Damn, Vern can write. He sometimes goes overboard with the sarcasm, but still, it's fun to read.
<p>Check out his Fantastic 4: Part 2 review. He is so pissed off, he can eat 20 raw chillies at the same time.</p>

And I admit, I quite enjoyed LFODH 4.0 (much more so than Bayformers). The Mac kid and Kevin Smith were fine and not terribly annoying. Smith really only had about 3 minutes of screentime. And the Mac kid played his part well without being too whiny. They were not nearly as off-kilter as Sergeant Al and Theo in the original. The only thing I would have preferred is a better villain. I found the Fire Sale concept intriguing, but when we're talking about John McClane, you want a villain who could fight him in hand to hand combat then get thrown off the fucking roof. Know'm sayin'?<p>
Not that Jeremy Irons was that great a villain either. He came across as rather gay (no offense to gay people).

adding curse words helps, but does not make him the Mafuckin'Clane from the first three films. Sorry. McClane is not supposed to be the clean shaved and sober dude we saw in LFoDH, and he's not the superhero who flies jets and shoots cars into helicopters either. Face it, is that the McClane we REALLY want to see?

It's the exact opposite of the first, moving from an exhaustive usage of one location in the first, to an endless stream of locations in the third. Bruce & Sam have an amazing dynamic with each other, Jeremy Irons kicks untold amounts of ass, and New York never looked so alive. I wouldn't want 1 without 3, or (obviously) 3 without 1. DH4 beat out DH2 even with a PG-13 cut. Good to know this new cut is more true to form.

... and is second only to the classic Die Hard. As Saluki said, the dynamic between Willis and Jackson is great, and the complete opposite of McClane and Powell in the first one. The sheer balls of the opening scenes (bomb in NY, then McClane in Harlem with the sign) is genius as is the wild goose chase thru New York. The ending tapers off a little, but overall DH3 is definitely better than Die Harder. Haven't seen LFODH, but will on Wednesday. DH Classic is definitely on the top 5 of actioners of all time, maybe even at the top.

Die Hard 2 was the only sequel that really felt like a Die Hard movie. Die Hards 3 & 4 weren't even real Die Hard movies, they were just action films where John McClane was shoehorned into the lead character to fit it into the franchise. Die Hard 3 was a Lethal Weapon script where Willis and Jackson took the Gibson & Glover roles. And the over-the-top Die Hard 4 should have been a sequel to True Lies, it would have been more appropriate to have Schwarzenegger riding on that jetfighter.

I just want to say that wishing McClane had hair in this one is like wishing Clint Eastwood's voice wasn't as ragged in his more recent movies. Yes McClane looks different, but check out Willis in real life, he has a strip of grey hair around the edges. You would be complaining if he had that, and McClane ain't gonna wear a wig, so bald is the best option.<p>
And Vadakin, I do remember you doing that, I hereby officially give you credit. But I do believe it was the fury and pure poetic force of my essay that summoned him into the talkback as opposed to a question and answer. Or maybe it was the curse of Dave the Demon. On second thought, I give credit to DemonDave.

Nope, sorry, Fox, you completely blew it. No money for you for this half-assed crap masquerading as DIE HARD. I don't care how many alternate takes, digital blood, and overdubbed curse words you added to it. Fuck off harder with a vengeance.

Does a few profanities thrown in make the movie ALL that much better? If you idiots are so infatuated with the F-bomb, just keep frequenting this forum. I'm not going to cry that a movie studio wants to release two versions of a movie to appeal to a broader audience. After all, there are words I don't want my kids to be learning from the TV, and I like to have the option. (And after all is said and done, Vern, didn't you get your blue-streak version in the end?)

cuz JESUS FUCKING CHRIST I've taken so much shit back then when I stated that DH3 was way better than this shitty piece of turd. Even the lame moments in DH3 (there are a few) are more enjoyable than the talking car, or the lame sidekick, or the daughter in distress for no reason whatsoever. Did I mention the F-35 scene? Don't even get me STARTED on the F-35 scene. <p>
Die Hard with a vengeance has better concept, script, lines, sidekick, bad guy, direction... You name it. This movie was GOLD.

Seriously. Both are awful movies, but at least watching D-WAR there was a misguided passion driving the film - at least someone was trying, even if pure arrogance stood between the writer-producer-director and a decent script. Bayformers was the most cynical and useless GM commercial ever made - the only thing anyone involved cared about was money. It seems like it was directed by robots from another planet, rather than just featuring them in the film. The cartoon had more heart - and it was a pretty cynical toy commercial itself. D-WAR was an enormous, quite personal financial gamble. Hyung-Rae Shim risked utter financial ruin making it, and lucked out BIG TIME when Showbox, who bought the worldwide rights, managed to figure out a way to actually sell it in the local market. (It's also a film that might seem a bit better if you don't speak English - that must have been a factor as well.) After worldwide home video it might just squeak into the black - which seemed all but impossible pre-release, when all anyone knew was that it was really expensive and probably not good. Would Spielberg and Bay have risked bankruptcy to produce Bayformers? Yeah fucking right - it'd never have happened, and the world would be a tiny bit better off for it. I know it's off topic, but the subject came up and I still get angry thinking about the time I wasted watching that piece of shit. D-WAR was also a piece of shit, but it was at least fun. There was no fun in Bay's film - it was merely insulting. Thank God I snuck in.

I mean it wasn't the horror it could have been, but really I am shocked as many people can watch the perfection of the original and then describe this generic mess as 'almost as good' or in a couple of misbegotten experiences 'better' or 'more fun'... <p>
Also I thing this site needs to see the return of Demon Dave... I think it is time for an update on his pathologist fighting demons idea (or whatever it was), you know The DOORWAY to TRUE EVIL...

It goes plop once the action leaves Manhattan, but the Harlem sequence, the Central Park chase ('are you AIMING for these people?!' 'No. Well, maybe that mime'), the subway crash and the vault robbery are all fried action movie gold. The only sequence in LFODH that really got the old juices flowing for me was the Maggie Q / SUV / elevator shaft mass bitchslap. It's still better than most action movies though, but what really gnawed at me was the sad loss of the late Michael Kamen's score.

Yeah, in this case it does. It makes it more realistic and actually makes it a film for adults. The kids can always go see Transformers and wait until they're 17 to see a real R-rated Die Hard. I have kids too, but I'm not going to watch kiddie movies for the rest of my life.

die hard 4 is fucking awful, and any true fan of the original will say the same thing, bruce willis is either completely deluded or completely at the mercy of the studio for ever saying "die hard 4 is as good, if not better than the original" i wanted to believe it, but what a fuckin lie, and he knows it, he was on a uk chat show promoing it and the host wasnt afraid to tell bruce he didnt like the movie, saying it wasnt a patch on the original, bruce looked like he agreed too.

At times you have to suspend your disbelief as Mc Clne jumps on and from a fighter jet as well as taking on some spider-manesque henchman, (it's that damn super soldier formula i tell ya.) but I must admit the unrated version is 5X better than it's PG-13 abomination. Kevin Smith plays himself; a huge dweeb. and does a great job at it,then there's Maggie Q..gotta check out previous HK flicks as for Olyphant..Hitman!!! dammit.. And yeah I second that I too liked this better than Transformers which ain't too hard.

myself to see Die Hard 4 in the theaters, with a pg-13 rating. I'll have to check it out on DVD. It sounds like Wiseman shot an R-rated films but when the studios told him to make some changes he backed down like a pussy. Wiseman is a studio guy and he's destined for a lifetime of mediocrity.

is a full fledged fucking retard. Besides, you would never have noticed they were said off-screen if the movie originally came out with an R rating. Go watch any other Die Hard and see just how many fucks are said off-screen. Plus, it's not as if half of every movie isn't ADR'd anyway.

<p>I haven't bothered to watch Die Hard 4, and I'm not sure I want to. The trailer for it looked so ridiculous that it turned me off. Die Hard 2 was good, although it had some of the most ridiculous plot holes ever. And the less said about Die Hard with a Vengeance, the better. I saw it in the theater back in '95 and even then I was disappointed.</p>
<p>I might watch Live Free and Die Hard if Rifftrax does a commentary for it, though. Or if I become curious to see how they anally raped the franchise to make more money. Hell, maybe they could do a Die Hard 5 when McClane is in his 70's. He could be in a nursing home when terrorists take it over and then go around beating them to death with his bedpan.</p>

They need to scale the thing back down again. The problem with the Die Hard series was that it's taken the original claustrophobic concept and has been opening it up with every sequel.<p>I liked Die Hard 2 (apart from the ending where he manages to kill the two main bad guys without them knowing it was even him) because at least it was still stuck (largely) in one location.<p>Die Hard 3 wasn't as good as the two which came before it because now McClane had a whole city to play in. Again it was a good action movie apart from the ending (blowing up a helicopter by shooting wires doesn't have yield anywhere near the same satisfaction as throwing the bad guy from the top of a building).<p>As much as I liked Live Free Or Die Hard, it felt too far away from the original concept whilst also feeling too much like the third entry. And I had NO idea what happened at the end at first (He's shot Gabriel? But how? He....did he?...oh he shot through himself!)<p>I think Live Free Or Die Hard is a great ACTION movie but it's not a great DIE HARD movie.

so some are bitching because he was sober and clean shaven in this? hmmm thats funny because he's sober and clean shaven in 3 of the 4 movies. and the one movie where he wasnt, well thats part 3 and apparently its a bad movie so yeah.....interesting.

about the hair issue??? Sheesh.<p>Anyway, it's good to have McClane uncensored but I'm still pissed that they didn't show this version in theatres. The unrated cut is very good IMO but the new car-into-helicopter line isn't as funny as in the theatrical cut.

Samuel L Jackson - MAY YOU NEVER DO ANYTHING FOR GEORGE LUCAS AGAIN! <br>
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Vern, I must agree that I expected this movie to suck more than it did and if they killed that awful, awful line about the bullets in the DVD version then GOOD!

Is it because it was supposed to be a Lethal Weapon movie? Even though its in a city it still has the element of claustrophobia. There are also some really clever ideas. The little facts early on that become useful later are really well done (they only do this in the first and third movie). Jackson's character is a welcome addition (at least he's not the Mac guy). McClane is just as pissed off and surly as ever. All in all it's a solid movie and probably where the series should have ended.

...when Bruce does DIE HARD 5 he'll say THAT's the best Die Hard. My money's on DH2 as the best sequel (the first half of DH3 was pretty good, too.) The original is in another class. One of the two best action flicks of the '80s along with Raiders.

DH3 is a horribly uneven film that ends on the worst possible note. There's lots of good stuff, but it's mostly in the first half hour or so. I loved Samuel L.'s character, I liked the opening explosions, I also thought the idea for having Gruber's brother be the villian out for revenge and some loot was the best possible idea for a Die Hard sequel since it didn't stretch the credibility of having McClane accidently stumble into another wrong place at another wrong time. But all that good stuff is long forgotten by the time we get to the lousy end.<br><br>
Many action scenes that could've been effective were done with terrible effects. The derailed metro car and the part where McClane surfs a bus on an underground tidal wave make the effects at the end of Blade look like a goddamn ILM resume. I don't think those scenes could've looked worse if they'd used stopmotion of a McClane action figure on Barbie's bus. But also the pace seriously starts to decline after that scene at the school, which is not a good thing for an action movie.<br><br>
I guess I could also knitpick and say that I disliked the depiction of the villains, I found them too cartoonish. The villains in the first one all had personality, but they were realistic. The villains in DH3 seemed more like James Bond villains, especially that blonde lady who danced around with two sickles reminded me of someone like Framke Jansen in Goldeneye, which is the kind of over-the-top ridiculousness that doesn't really belong in a Die Hard movie. McClane also refers to the baddies in DH3 as "the East German all-stars" which I guess coupled with the sickle-wielding ballerina was part of the 1990s instant Cold War revival, but East Germany was no longer a country. German reunification had occurred five years before the release of this film, but I guess people still wanted some sort of Cold War edge.<br><br>But I guess what really sinks this film is the ending. You might not be with me that it's "the worst ending in action movie history", but you'd be pressed to name many that are worse. Having McClane accompany a perfectly competent SWAT team to Canada to watch them arrest Gruber II was a terrible move. Not only did it mess up the flow of the film all taking place in one day, but I think we can all agree that in a DH movie, the villain dies, and it's McClane who kills him. That seems like one of those things you just wouldn't even think of messing with. But they did. And then having McClane sit back and mumble his famous "Yippy-kay-yay" to himself for no reason drove it further into its grave. I don't really believe a character like McClane should even have a catch phrase, but if he has to it should at least be worked into some sort of context and not just tacked on so that the fans can check off that he said it and it is therefore a Die Hard movie.<br><br>I'd say that the end of DH3 is probably the opposite of Face/Off. You know how at the end of Face/Off there's a great battle in the church and it seems like the movie is over, but then the producers must have discovered a pile of gold bricks on the set so they threw in a second climax with a speedboat chase? Well, DH3 seems like a movie that should've had that speedboat chase and then they found out they didn't have money for it so they figured they'd go with the ending from Monty Python's Holy Grail and just drag everybody off in cop cars.<br><br>So yeah, DH3 has some great moments and characters, but they're hidden between some pretty bad stuff and then sunk by an ending that was so bad it could've killed even a perfect movie like Aliens. Hope you appreciate this explanation.

although I like that one that's a good explanation of some of its flaws. It always bothered me at the end not only that they let him go along, but that he wanted to. And then the dubbed in after the fact "Yippy ki yay" capped it.<p>
I wanted to ask you if you've ever watched the alternate ending that's on the DVD. It's also not like you'd expect from DIE HARD but I thought it was pretty cool. In that version Simon gets away but then McClane tracks him down in Canada at a later date and "plays a game" with him.

No, I've never seen this alternate ending, though somebody described it to me once. I only own the first Die Hard DVD, but maybe this thing is on YouTube. It sounded like something out of one of those SAW movies where somebody is challenged to a goofy but deadly game. Although I think that ending also sounds silly and also breaks up the flow of the movie taking place in Manhattan in one day, it at least has the sadistic personal dynamic between McClane and the villain that was sorely missed from the theatrical cut's "climax".<br><br>Like I said, there's some good stuff in DH3 and I really admire it for standing and failing as its own movie and not relying on referencing and rehashing of the original the way DH2 did. I thought it was a great move to show McClane as a washup divorced loser, and the story setup and idea for the villain were great. But this movie has too much wrong with it for me to actually enjoy it or to bother with watching DH4.<br><br>Special epilogue:<br>Die Hard is a special film that I watch every Christmas. It takes the classic Christmas movie story of an estranged family reconnecting over the holidays against all odds, but does it with a bunch of crazy Germans and swearing and assault rifles and stuff I like and with no Tim Allen. Talking with you guys about Die Hard puts me in the Christmas spirit more than all the annoying music they play and goofy decorations they put everywhere.<br>So thanks, HO-HO-HO.

While I don't agree with you on all the flaws (especially the extent to which they ruin the movie) I will admit that all of a sudden changing locations did take some wind out of the sails at the end. Personally, I think Die Hard is easily the best all round action trilogy. So many films screw up on the third one and I actually think it's better than DH2 (which was a decent sequel in its own right). I too watch Die Hard the original every Christmas.

I guess what I was trying to say was I prefer a more personal and intimate fight between a hero and his nemesis and I think Jeremy Irons looked fit enough to meet the demands of such a scene convincingly. I didn't like McClane having all those other SWAT guys and it seemed like he was tagging along.<br><br>And phoenixmagi, I wasn't acting like it was just DH3 that had McClane say "Yippy-kay-yay", I know he says it in every movie, I guess the way they just dubbed it in there in DH3 makes me think it was a post-production touch after somebody like yourself at a test screening complained that it's not a Die Hard film unless he says "the line".<br><br>I understand McClane referencing Roy Rogers in the original DH because of the discussion about cowboy movies. But a lot of good Western films came out after that and it might have helped McClane seem more current and been more fun to have him quote them in the DH sequels.<br><br>For example:<br>"You're a daisy if you do, motherfucker!" (Tombstone)<br><br>"You're not fast enough to beat me!"<br>"Today I am, motherfucker!"(The Quick and the Dead)<br><br>"You just shot an unarmed motherfucker!"<br>"That motherfucker should've armed himself."(Unforgiven)<br><br>Or even more classics:<br>
"No, motherfucker, you've got two horses too many!"(Once Upon a Time in The West)<br>"To kill a man you shoot the motherfucker in the heart, ain't that right motherfucker?"(Fistfull of Dollars)<br><br>They could've really come full circle, as you put it, and have him shove a harmonica down Simon Gruber's throat a la Charles Bronson.
<br>I'm just kidding you guys. I do love the first film dearly, but have only seen the sequels twice each, which I guess is why I forgot about McClane blowing up Simon's helicopter and the sadistic closeup of Simon Gruber jumping out of the blazing wreckage pleading for water while the SWAT team stands back and lets McClane put on brass knuckles and punch the melting flesh off Simon's burning face until he drops dead and is urinated upon by a Mountee. I'll keep an eye out for that next time.<br><br>And rbatty024, I agree with you that DH3 is better than DH2 and that in most action trilogies the third is usually the weakest so this is an anomally.

you see john say the line right before he shoots the cable that leads to the helicopter's destruction. there was no dubbing, he said the line and we saw him say it. now maybe you meant it felt like that scene was added after the fact which is entirely possible since its a close up and all but yeah, there's no dubbing.

I miss the good old days where the lead is a somewhat regular guy who gets the shit kicked out of him. You know, the days of John McClaine and Martin Riggs. It's getting difficult to stomach this two guns blazing, slo-mo, immaculate wire-fu stuff anymore. So despite the insane ending Die Hard 4 was a pretty fun breath of fresh air for me. The jet thing was kind of inevitable, each sequel is supposed to top the other in pure scale. So I enjoyed that for what it was but it's time to stop, the series has hit maximum crazy.

Which actually breaks the trilogy rule in my opinion. I feel the first film was actually the weakest and the second was my favorite but that the third was still stronger than the first. I love the second two films and like the first. So BOURNE gets my vote for best overall trilogy.

...comes AFTER the helicopter explodes. Before he shoots the power lines, McClane says "Say hello to your brother". Then, after the explosion, he mutters "Yippee-kai-yay, motherfucker" with a striking lack of enthusiasm.

Funny how it came out five years after Die Hard 2 and had access to all kinds of digital technology that hadn't even been invented at the time of Die Harder, yet it actually looks like the older movie. Compare those gorgeously-designed and lit ILM model planes to the shoddy boat explosion in WAV (with McClane and Zeus flying away like two Wile E. Coyotes). And the green screen effects in the film are atrocious. Hell, WAV doesn't even match up to the *first* Die Hard in terms of F/X. On that level, LFODH is a VAST improvement on WAV. LFODH was pretty goddamn entertaining all around. Yeah, it still doesn't "feel" like a Die Hard movie (no Christmas, no Al Powell, no contained location), but at least it's a more competant Bruce Willis action flick than WAV.

I always thought "Die Hard With A Vengeance" was the best sequel. "Die Harder" was fun, but like some people here are saying, it seems to be a rehash of the original. But some of the exchanges between McClane and Lorenzo are classic: "Hey, Carmine. Let me ask you something. What sets off the metal detectors first? The lead in your ass or the shit in your brains? Fat fuck." It was also a good plot-twist with Major Grant.
I thought Die Hard 3 had the second best bad guy, after Hans Gruber, of course. But the ending was pretty weak.
"Live Free or Die Hard" was a lot of fun...although it had its flaws, like pretty much every other sequel does. Thomas wasn't a too convincing villain, but it was great seeing McClane back. I thought the sequence with him and Maggie Q. was excellent. And then the way he taunts Gabriel afterward is reminiscent of the way he taunted Karl in "Die Hard": She's at the bottom of an elevator shaft, with an SUV up her ass." Priceless.

It's a crime that the original ending got replaced with the dumb reshoot. The original one really gave John McClane the chance to be a pissed-off, bad motherfucker again, instead of having him high-fiving Sam Jackson and toasting marshmallows on the bonfire from the burning helicopter. (Also, as if John McClane would be able to shoot his last bullet at an electric cable that high off the ground, especially considering he's a drunk, hungover and had his head bounced off about twenty henchmens' fists throughout that day.)
The commentary the writer gives on the original ending is worth a listen as he sounds a tad pissed that it got swapped.

DIE HARD movies should be rated R, period. There was no way I was going to stand for anything less so I did skip it in theaters, and bought the unrated dvd the day it came out. It was a good film. NO FUCKING DOUBLE DIPPING FOR ME. The fucking suits pull that FUCKING shit on me again, and they can kiss my invisible ass at the theater cause I wont be there, I'll be waiting for the FUCKING unrated version that is loyal to the spirit of Die Hard mythology. As for how I currently rate them, the first one obviously is the best, but I like the 2nd one a lot as well as this new one. Bruce was cocky and went all out in those first two films, they will always be classics to me. I think the third might be my least favorite, but honestly I like them all. This new one is certainly a strong entry into the series.